Today is Turkey Tuesday at Elevation. That means that 200+ families in need this season will come to our church and receive a bag of groceries for a Thanksgiving meal for their family because of our partnership with Matthews Help Center. I love my church.

Last night, I joined forces with 30 women from all of our campuses, all over Charlotte, to put these bags together. I love getting to meet people while doing something productive at the same time.

When the evening was over and all the bags were packed, we prayed over the bags. We prayed that the people who received the groceries would sense the love of Christ even if they don’t know him personally. I am so thankful for the many opportunities that I get to be a part of.

If you live in Charlotte and would like to get involved in an outreach opportunity, check out our website for an event that fits you!

This weekend my husband concluded our series, 52 Days of Thanks and Praise. He continued out of Isaiah 52. Last week he talked about alertness, attire, and access. This week he closed with altitude and attitude.

He pointed out how the scripture says to rise up and sit enthroned. He explained how rise up is an action and sit enthroned is an attitude. Ephesians 2:4-6 says that we are raised with Christ and seated in the heavenly realm. He encouraged us that when we can’t rise up in our situation, we can rise up in our attitude.

Here are a few of my favorite lines…

If you just believe Jesus rose, it’s history, but if you know he calls you to rise with him, it’s destiny.

Before you see your life rebuilt, you have to teach yourself to rejoice in your ruins. (Is 52:8-9)

Attitude determines atmosphere which effects attitude.

You can carry your cross and still crown Him with praise.

Just because we start a new series next week does not mean 52 Days of thanks and praise is over. We are carrying this out through the end of 2013. Visit the sight 52daysofthanksandpraise.com to see the daily praise prompts. And my husband also announced this weekend that we will be celebrating the close of 52Days with a New Years Eve worship experience, everyone is invited!! See our website for more details in the near future.

I am thankful that God didn’t give me what I thought I wanted 8 years ago.

I grew up in a house with all girls (except my dad of course). I have two sisters and I only knew girl things. Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be a mom. Whenever I pictured this, I always pictured myself having girls. You can imagine my disappointment when I found out Elijah was going to be a boy. I am not going to lie, I cried.

My family isn’t what I pictured it would be, but it’s better. Now that I have one girl, I don’t think I could have handled more than one. For one, I would never ever be on time. It would take hours to get myself and 3 girls ready to go out. And two, Abbey and I together have more drama than any family could take.

I also love the dynamic of having my boys first and then their little sister. I truly feels perfect for me.

This makes me wonder what else in my life I have pouted to God about that I really wouldn’t have wanted if He had given it to me. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to realize that God knows you better than you know yourself.

I think about the times that I have tirelessly tried to get Abbey to eat her dinner. ”I don’t wike it,” she will say when she hasn’t even tried it. I know that if she would just taste it, she would like it, but most of the time she refuses to even try. I wonder if God sits up in heave whispering to me, “Try it, I know you will like it!”

Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.”

Taste and see today. What has the Lord withheld from you because He knows you are not ready or wouldn’t want it anyway?

Last night I was talking to my friend on the phone. We were talking about how one of her kids and one of my kids is “that kid.”

You know “that kid.” When you see them coming you think, what are they going to do this time. Who are they going to hit, kick, pinch, or scream at? Whose toy are they going to steal? What thing will they break? And what will they say?

The thing is, chances are, if you have more than 1 child, you will have a “that kid.”

In our conversation, she was saying how she wishes her child wasn’t “that kid.” She wishes she could drop her off at preschool and not worry about the report from the teacher when she returns to pick her up. And while we were talking about our “that kids” I had this revelation. Instead of wishing my child wasn’t always the one causing trouble I need to just own it and deal with it.

So I do have a child that causes trouble. We are working on it. When I arrive at the school, and the teacher has a bad report, that’s ok. I will discipline even when I feel like it isn’t working. I will make them apologize even though they don’t mean it. I will apologize to the teacher and tell her we are working on it. I am not ignoring the issues, I am just facing them rather than wishing they weren’t there. Owning it also means, when she is having a really hard day, I am going to have to forgo the grocery store or the play date so that I am not setting her up for failure.

And I while I am owning it, I remind myself that there are indeed two sides to every coin. And “that kid” is spirited and determined and a leader and decisive. Some kids just don’t make good kids, but they turn out to make amazing adults. And (with the help of the Lord) I am going to raise “that kid” to be a world changer.

Owning it isn’t just about raising difficult children. It is about any situation that you need to face and not wish away.

You lost your job? You cannot keep spending the way you used to spend, but you do have extra time to help people in need this Christmas season.

Your marriage is struggling? You need to put your pride aside and get some help, but you are still married and your children have two parents who are going to work it out rather than walk away.

You struggle with depression? You need to memorize scripture and see a doctor, but you can have empathy for others going through similar situations.

I don’t know what your situation is that you wish you didn’t have to. But you have it. And if you own it, face it then see the flip side of the coin, that situation cannot have control of you, you will have control of it.

This weekend we started a new initiative called 52 Days of Thanks and Praise. We want to fill the rest of the year with thanksgiving for all that the Lord has done.

When the new year rolls around, I always have the tendency to focus on all the negative things from the previous year that I want to change. This year I want to go into the new year focused on all the amazing things God has done in me and for me and around me and all the things He will continue to do.

We are starting our day with thanks. To help us out Elevation created this website with a new confession of thanksgiving and praise every day for us to read out loud. Check it out here. I hope you will join us here and on social media as we fill the atmosphere with our gratefulness because we truly do have so much to be thankful for.

Yesterday I was cleaning off a bookshelf when I found these. I got kinda sentimental because these books represent my spiritual growth in my 20s. The most essential part of studying God’s Word is not the Bible study or reading plan you select. It is not who the author of the study or book it is. It is not whether you do the study by yourself or with a group. The most important part is just doing it.

My husband calls this stacking days. Day after day. When I feel like it and when I don’t. When I learn something and when I don’t. When I get interrupted and when I don’t. When I have time and when I don’t. If I consistently show up to my appointment with God, I am guaranteed growth.

Do I recall a lot of the information I studied. Not in the true sense of the word recall. But each of those books, every question that I answered, every scripture that I read is a seed planted in my heart that God chooses to bloom whenever He sees fit.

Don’t stop stacking days. Don’t stop showing up.

Psalm 1:2-3Blessed is the man… whose delight is in the law of the Lord,and who meditates on his law day and night.That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,which yields its fruit in seasonand whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.

I am a church girl. I have been attending church since 9 months before I was born. It is a part of me. My parents did a great job teaching me scripture and bible stories. It is so much a part of me, I sometimes realize it at odd times.

Hebrew 4:12 says the word of God is alive and active. When you plant scripture in your heart it is a live seed that God can bloom at any time in your life, at the moment when you need it most.

I remember memorizing Psalm 100 in kindergarten. We said it every day after we said the pledge of allegiance, King James version. There are countless scripture songs my mom taught me that I have never forgotten.

Like when I have moments of anxiety, I remember, “Cast all your anxiety on the Lord for he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

Or when I want to quit I remember Hebrews 10:35-36, “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.”

And when I am having a bad day, I remember the key to turning around my day is in Psalm 100 (in King James :))

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.

Let the Word of God take root in your heart. You never know when it will bloom.

Wow. What a weekend. If you read this blog every week, you probably get annoyed at how I say every week is incredible but it truly is. My husband is an amazing preacher. Lately I have been encouraging him by saying, just do what you do every week and it will be great.

This week he did not disappoint. His sermon was on Joshua 6, the story of Joshua and the battle of Jericho. He addressed the fact that although there are many blessings that God has promised us, often we do not actually have them in our day to day living and why? He pointed out that the Israelites marched around Jericho 7 times, but what if they had stopped on 6?

The message was called, “Don’t stop on 6!” Here are a few of my favorite lines…

The length between what God has promised and what I receive is perseverance

Sometimes God has to weaken my will to strengthen my faith

Just because the progress isn’t obvious doesn’t mean my faith isn’t working

You can listen to the message on your smart phone through our Elevation app. You can also catch it in our archive or on the Elevation Network.